


It's Always Darkest (With the Cave Door Shut)

by jessikast



Category: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-19
Updated: 2007-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 03:51:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1630025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessikast/pseuds/jessikast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iolaus, die carpende, pounced on the nuances of the remark  he'd always been all about the nuances, a real subtle guy  and asked, "So you'd have said yes if <i>I</i> asked you? I mean, last time I checked I wasn't a woman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Always Darkest (With the Cave Door Shut)

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to my beta readers: maudlinrose, who read and re-read and re-read and helped me with the hardest part - the title! and summary! - and labellementeuse, who read the final revision and made me feel good about what I was posting. Thanks also to jadedoll for an awesome prompt - Merry Xmas! :-)
> 
> Written for Jadedoll

 

 

Iolaus' breath was rasping in his throat as he sprinted into the cave a few steps ahead of Hercules. When he finally stopped, he stood bent over with his hands braced on his knees getting his breath back, blood rushing in his ears. With a small grunt of effort, Hercules rolled into place the large rock that acted as the cave's door, simultaneously blocking them in safely and plunging the cave into utter darkness.

With the lack of light, sounds were amplified. Iolaus could hear the sound of his panting quickly returning to normal; Hercules' even breaths, which hadn't become panting in the first place; and, a moment later the sounds of a good number of excited, angry, and generally _crazy_ villagers storming up to the cave and starting to yell and pound ineffectually at the rock.

"Why won't they just go away?" Hercules asked plaintively.

"Because your beloved sister maybe doesn't know when her latest brilliant idea _wasn't so brilliant after all?_ " Iolaus replied, hoping that perhaps, just perhaps, Aphrodite had hung around long enough to observe the results of her latest love tincture and might be so nice as to notice it happened to have rather severely inconvenienced them, so that they could leave the cave sometime _before_ the widespread infatuation with Hercules wore off and the big guy wasn't in danger of getting mauled when he stepped outside. Which, at current estimates, was going to be in about three days.

"Gee, thanks, buddy, I forgot why we were in here," Hercules replied dryly, and Iolaus could hear him starting to move slowly back into the cave. They'd spent the night here on their way down into Ninopolis and it seemed like the cave was just your average hole in a cliff, but it never hurt to check. The cave was exactly the same as they had left it, though - no passages, no handy springs, no local wildlife; the only things differentiating it from all the other holes in the cliff face were the rock boulder door and some nearby underground hotsprings which raised the temperature from clammy to cozy to oppressive .

Given that all their gear was still down in Ninopolis and Herc was doing pretty much the only thing there was _to_ do in a cave, Iolaus felt his way to a wall and slid down against it. A couple of minutes later, Hercules joined him. "So...are they still out there?" Iolaus asked.

"Yep."

"Great." There was a pause. "Now?"

"Yep."

"Okay... still out there?" A warning growl was his only answer and Iolaus sighed. Hercules was frustrated by the whole thing, and a frustrated Hercules was a Hercules who wasn't the mood to be teased. The people he'd been beating off - literally - with a stick weren't warlords or mercenaries or monsters. They were everyday people who, through no fault of their own, suddenly thought Hercules was utterly the most desirable being they'd ever seen. Repelling them was more difficult and exhausting than bad guys who Hercules could have tossed over his shoulder without a thought - the two of them had had to fight and escape village without causing any lasting damage.

Of course, there was a little part of Iolaus that had raised jealous hackles and nearly growled at the hussies and bravos who had started making moves on _his_ best friend, and that part had no problems at all with causing a little lasting damage. Just a little.

Iolaus decided that Hercules didn't need to know about that.

* * *

Several hours later, Iolaus had given up all attempts at conversation. He'd tried dozing off, but the blackness in the cave was so complete that he'd started not knowing whether his eyes were closed or not, and frankly, it was kind of getting to him. To Hercules too; neither of them were good at dealing with forced inactivity.

Making matters worse was the rising heat level in the cave. Iolaus removed his shirt and tried using it to cushion his head against the rock. Except the rock had sharp bits that poked him even through the cloth; he was sweating from the warmth apart from where the cold rock on his back was cooling the sweat and making him itch; and he was _hungry_ and _trapped_ in a _cave_ with nothing to do but think. And right now, Iolaus was thinking about the fact that it was terribly, _terribly_ unfair that somewhere along the line he'd fallen in love with his best friend and here he was with what would be the perfect opportunity to bring up the subject, if it wasn't for the fact that the one thing Iolaus wanted more than to have sex with Hercules, was to never, ever lose the most important relationship he'd ever had. Sometimes, Iolaus thought, I really am a coward.

A few more excruciating hours of non-conversation, prickly heat and a black, black blackness that was so black Iolaus was sure he'd started seeing things just for variety, he moistened his lips with a few precious drops of water from their one skin and threw caution to the wind. "You awake, buddy?"

"Yes." Hercules' tone wasn't good humoured, but it had taken Iolaus so long to be this brave - or stupid - and he wasn't stopping now.

"I've got to ask - when we were down in that village and those women in the bar started flirting with you...before we knew they were whammied, obviously, and before _everyone_ started doing it...why didn't you take any of them up? I mean, I could hear some of the things they were whispering in your ears, and they were quite generous offers."

There was a pause, and Iolaus could hear Hercules' shrug rasp against the walls. "Not my type, I guess."

"Aw, c'mon. _None_ of them? I mean, there was that one redhead...whoo!" Iolaus forced a chuckle, and in his mind's eye could see the suggestive curves his hands were sketching out.

Hercules must have resigned himself to Iolaus' line of questioning, because his tone of voice had switched from irritated to a generous tolerance. "I've not had much luck in love lately, you know that. I'm thinking of swearing off women all together, in fact."

Iolaus, die carpende, pounced on the nuances of the remark - he'd always been all about the nuances, a real subtle guy - and asked, "So you'd have said yes if _I_ asked you? I mean, last time I checked I wasn't a woman."

Iolaus stopped, thought about just what he was doing, and pressed his lips together to keep from anything else spilling out. There was silence, suddenly oppressive and lasting far, far too long. He could feel his heart pounding harder and faster, and he was literally holding his breath waiting for Herc to say something. Anything. Preferably not something along the lines of "Hades, no."

Finally, there was a huff of startled laughter from Hercules. "Ah, but you _didn't_ ask. And if you had, I'd've assumed you were under the love spell, just like everyone else. I thought you were just the only one there smart enough to see I'm not the prize they think I am." Iolaus could hear the humour in Hercules's voice, and could picture precisely the smile that would be turning up the corner of his mouth, the crinkling of lines around Hercules' eyes.

"Yeah, I know, I know, you're a broken down old wreck," Iolaus said. "And I am now. Asking, I mean."

Another moment of heavy silence, and this time Iolaus could hear that Hercules' breathing was paused as well. "Iolaus, you're my best friend, my partner..." he started, and Iolaus braced himself for the "...and I'd never want to ruin our friendship that way." But instead what Hercules said was "...and of course I'd say yes."

It took a moment for Iolaus to hear what Hercules said, for his brain to catch up from what it was expecting to hear. It was the "of course" that was so startling; at best, Iolaus had been hoping for cautious assent, for an opening that he could use to persuade Hercules that there were more things they could be doing around the campfire at night. He hadn't expected this open, easy agreement, which was silly - Hercules was the most sincere man he knew, with an honest manner that sometimes made people forget he was more than just muscles and in fact possessed a very acute emotional intelligence.

For a moment, Iolaus felt a little foolish and wondered how long Hercules had been waiting for him to ask. Then more sensible parts of his brain took over, and he kneeled up and shuffled over until he bumped into where Hercules was sitting against the wall. For a moment he paused, totally unsure of how to proceed with this, and then he felt Hercules's hand fumble out and grip firmly and warm around his left wrist and...that was that.

Iolaus leaned forward, his right palm thumping against the wall next to Hercules' head, and he bent down to press his lips against his best friend's with no more hesitation. Hercules didn't hesitate either; the fingers around Iolaus' wrist tightened once and then let go, the fingers trailing upwards to rest against Iolaus' ribs.

Iolaus opened his mouth slightly, still pressed against Hercules' and let his tongue flick at Herc's lower lip. With that touch, something hot and tight burst in Iolaus' chest. Something like twenty years of everything, years of best friends and bantering and arguments that hurt more than anything else, years of being at each other's backs and being there for the bad times as well as the good, years of being ready to fucking _die_ for each other and all that time this tension that both pretended wasn't there...everything mattered desperately and at the same time it didn't matter at all because his blood was rushing and fizzing in his ears and pumping raw desperation through his veins.

Iolaus could hear his breathing become harsh and urgent, extraordinarily loud in the silence of the cave, and Hercules' matched it. He could feel a whimper at the back of his throat, and moved to straddle Hercules' lap. At the same time a small groan came from Hercules and he sat up from the wall to get a better angle as the kiss continued. Iolaus gave up bracing himself against the wall behind Hercules and just held onto his friend instead; they were about equally as solid anyway. The hand that wasn't resting against Iolaus' side came up to gently cup the side of his face, and Iolaus was confused for a moment until he remembered that most of the people Hercules kissed were small and soft and seemed fragile in Hercules's hands. Iolaus growled slightly and bit at Hercules' lip.

Hercules broke away slightly and Iolaus could feel him grinning against his mouth. "You bit me," he said.

"Yes," Iolaus said. "I'm so glad you noticed." He dug his fingernails into the back of Hercules' shoulder for emphasis and grinned when Hercules jerked slightly at that. He moved forward again, but instead of kissing Herc, he bit him, this time on his neck. Hercules jerked again and didn't relax as Iolaus licked at the skin there.

In the dark of the cave, all Iolaus' other senses were amplified: he could taste and smell the sweat and dust on Hercules' skin and couldn't get enough of it; the sound of Hercules' heartbeat was loud in his ears. He heard Hercules' head thump back against the wall with a groan as he licked his way down and across one nipple, and then he felt Hercules' hand clutching at his upper arm before there was a flurry of movement and he found himself on his back with Hercules braced on top of him, one hand holding his wrist and palm down against the ground.

"You bit me. Twice," Hercules said, and now there was a dark amused tone in his voice that Iolaus felt straight down in his cock. Which incidentally right then was right under Hercules' hip, so he used his free hand to grip the edge of Hercules' leather pants and leveraged himself to buck against him; Hercules growled again and Iolaus thought that if he could see Hercules' eyes right now they'd be dark and glittering.

As it was, Iolaus tried to judge where Hercules' head was, and leant up to kiss him again, open mouthed and sloppy. Hercules returned it in full, distracted enough that Iolaus could get his hand free and bring it down to join his other in fumbling at the laces on Hercules' pants.

Thick leather pants might've been a really good idea if you were in a situation where you might need some extra protection on your legs, Iolaus thought as their hands tangled at their groins, groping blindly as they tugged at each other's laces, but sometimes they were _really annoying_. Frustrated, Hercules finally gave up and moved backwards to undo his pants, and Iolaus quickly undid his own ties, groaning at the relief of his cock no longer suppressed by the leather. That was it before Hercules was on him again and they were rutting like teenagers.

Iolaus could feel tension thrumming through him, filling his ears with a rushing sound until he couldn't even hear their loud panting any more; just fierce need and he held on, one hand around the back of Hercules' neck and the other scratching at the dirt underneath them as Hercules wrapped one large hand around both their cocks. That extra friction was all it took and Iolaus squeezed his eyes shut and yelled as he thrust against hand and cock and came. He was aware that Hercules was coming too, with a grunt rather than a yell.

As Iolaus came down off the high he kept his hold on Hercules, keeping him there, panting against each other's mouths until their breathing and heartbeats returned to normal, and all the tension abruptly left Hercules' body and he let himself collapse heavily onto Iolaus, head resting beside his ear.

Iolaus felt Hercules' teeth close around his earlobe and tug, and he laughed, wheezing against the weight on his chest and feeling elated and really, really not minding that he couldn't breathe. "You bit me," he announced to the darkness, and felt Hercules laugh too, finally rolling off him to lie side by side.

"Yeah," Hercules said. "Glad you noticed."

"I'll get you back for that," Iolaus warned, trying to sound threatening but knowing that his smile could be heard in his voice.

"I'll be waiting."

The cave was quiet for a moment, and Iolaus felt a wave of vague affection for this nice, warm darkness. He turned his face towards Hercules. "I love you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

Iolaus moved until his head was comfortably cushioned on Hercules' shoulder - which, okay, was pretty much as solid as the ground - and drifted into a doze. When he woke up, Hercules was a snoring pillow still, but the stone across the cave entrance had been moved a couple of feet, enough to let a shaft of early morning sunlight cross the floor, and their gear was piled up neatly just inside along with a note on pale pink parchment:

>   
> _SO sorry that my favourite boys were mixed up with this whole love potion thing! I really didn't know you guys were around - I only found you by following the_ awesome _vibes you were giving off last night. HOT!! Totally happy for you both, have added some of my Very Special Massage Oil to your pack. LOTS of love, Aphrodite xxx_.

Iolaus grinned ruefully, not really all that sorry himself, and went to wake up Hercules. And then had to exit the cave very, very quickly, running down the track and yelling as Hercules caught up to him and expressed his very serious displeasure at being woken up by being bitten by his best friend.

 

 

 


End file.
